It's Pronounced ``Freeze``

[mfgigcal]

Yeah, it may look like “freece” or “freesee,” but my name really is pronounced “freeze”. It was originally “Fresa,” as my mom’s family was from the Naples, Italy area and my dad’s from Sicily. But they changed it without asking me, since it was about 40 years before I was born!

Anyway, I am a bassist-mandolinist-acoustic guitarist-vocalist based in South Jersey. I’ve been playing bass since I was 18, guitar a few years less than that, and mandolin only for the past 10 years or so. I am also a singer/songwriter, having released two original music projects, one called “Solace” and the other an EP called “Eclectric Dreams”. This site contains my schedule, some photos, and a list of equipment. Visit my ReverbNation page at www.reverbnation.com/nickfrese. for additional information and original tunes.

Additionally, I have been known to play a little baseball in and around the South Jersey area, even thought it’s an undisputed fact that I am way too old to do that. For more details, please visit the Washington Township Senators website.

THE TUNES

Here is a listing of some of the tunes I perform during my acoustic gigs. The list is ever changing, ever evolving — I am easily bored! As you will see, I can be a bit eclectic. But I simply play songs that I like to sing. Hope you will like them as much as I do.

All I Want to Be Is By Your Side (Peter Frampton)

Baby Blue (Badfinger)

Blackbird (The Beatles)

Breath Love In (Paul Street)

Carolina In My Mind (James Taylor)

Cherry Cherry (Neil Diamond)

Children of Children (Jason Isbell)

Desperado (The Eagles)

End of the Line (Travelling Wilburys)

Father and Son (Cat Stevens)

Fire and Rain (James Taylor)

Friend of the Devil (The Grateful Dead)

Garden Party (Ricky Nelson)

Going With The Flow (Nick Frese)

Groovin’ (The Rascals)

Harvest Moon (Neil Young)

Homeward Bound (Simon & Garfunkle)

If I Should Fall Behind (Bruce Springsteen)

I’m Looking Through You (The Beatles)

Indian Summer (Nick Frese)

In Your Eyes (Peter Gabriel)

Just My Imagination (The Temptations)

Keep Me In Your Heart (Warren Zevon)

Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door (Bob Dylan)

Landslide (Fleetwood Mac)

Let It Be (The Beatles)

Let It Rain (Nick Frese)

Long May You Run (Stills/Young Band)

Long Time Gone (Nick Frese)

Many Rivers To Cross (Jimmy Cliff)

Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters (Elton John)

My Maria (R.W. Stevenson)

My Valentine (Paul McCartney)

No Matter What (Badfinger)

Oh Yoko (John Lennon)

Old Man (Neil Young)

Overkill (Men At Work)

Papa Dukie & The Mud People (The Subdudes)

Peaceful Easy Feeling (The Eagles)

P.S. I Love You (The Beatles)

Ragged Company (Grace Potter and Willie Nelson)

Reflections of My Life (The Marmalade)

Rocket Man (Elton John)

Sand (Heart)

Sister Lost Soul (Alejandro Escovedo)

Sloop John B (The Beach Boys)

Solitary Man (Neil Diamond)

Something More Than Free (Jason Isbell)

Space Oddity (David Bowie)

Speed Trap Town (Jason Isbell)

Sugar Mountain (Neil Young)

Sweet Baby James (James Taylor)

Take It Easy (The Eagles)

Tequila Sunrise (The Eagles)

The Vast Indifference of Heaven (Warren Zevon)

The Wind (Cat Stevens)

Things I Never Needed (Grace Potter & The Noctournals)

Time In A Bottle (Jim Croce)

Tiny Dancer (Elton John)

What Can I Say (Brandi Carlile)

Where I Used To Have a Heart (Craig Bickhardt)

Wildflowers (Tom Petty)

Willin’ (Little Feat)

Wishing You Were Here (Chicago & The Beach Boys)

Woman (John Lennon)

Words (The Bee Gees)

Working Class Hero (John Lennon)

Wrote A Song For Everyone (Creedence Clearwater Revival)

Yer So Bad (Tom Petty)

You Can Close Your Eyes (James Taylor)

You Don’t Know How It Feels (Tom Petty)

You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away (The Beatles)

My Gear

Every musician loves his/her gear. If they tell you they don’t, they are lying! Here are the instruments I own:

Gamma Custom Bass Guitar
This bass has a “J” style neck with a “P” style body, and it play like BUTTER. You’ll see me using this on all my Love Alive gigs. Click here to buy one from Joey!

Takamine Natural Series Acoustic/Electric Guitar
Purchased from my good friend Alex Pepiak from Lost Art Vintage Instruments. A beautifully tone and easy and light to play.

Hofner Club Bass Guitar
A great sounding, very light holldw-body bass similar to the McCartney Beatlebass, but different enough to be distinctive. Has that same great Hofner “whump,” though! Got this from Jason at Sweetwater, the best “big-box” retailer on the web.

Michael Kelly “F” Style Mandolin
While it isn’t in the class of the very high-end mandos, I think this Michael Kelly has a pretty nice tone, perhaps thanks to the “O” hole in the center, which is kinda rare on mandolins. I believe the model has been discontinued.

Fender Precision (Mexican)
My back-up Fender P bass is now semi-retired, but it remains a great sounding instrument for something so danged cheap — I got it used for $75! Special kudos to cousin Kyle Brown for the custom paint job and “hippie” vibe.

Rogue Five String Bass Guitar
Another el cheapo but decent bass, I picked this up used just so I could play around with a five-string instrument. Kinda looks like this one.

Epiphone Les Paul Junior Special Electric Guitar
Speaking of cheap, got this for $60.00 just for recording purposes! But it sure does play nice, with low action and a nice tone. Maybe someday I’ll upgrade, but for as little as I use it, why bother? A nice looking guitar for the money.

Alvarez Acoustic Guitar (Circa 1982)
My very first decent guitar, purchased from Old Towne Music in Turnersville, I do believe. I more or less learned on this thing, and although it has taken a beating, it is kinda dear to my heart.

CONTACT

I am always happy to hear from friends, fans, foes, whatever. If you have something to say, please say it in the form at right and hit the Submit button.